October 31, 2015: Horse Racing's 1st "Grand Slam"

October 31, 2015: American Pharoah wins the Breeders' Cup Classic, the highlight of the annual Breeders' Cup meet, held this year at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky.

On May 2, 2015, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, at 3-1 odds, American Pharoah won the Kentucky Derby, in 2 minutes, 3.02 seconds, by 1 length over Firing Line. Two weeks later, on May 16, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, at 9-10 odds, he won the Preakness Stakes, in 1 minute, 58.46 seconds, by 7 lengths over Tale of Verve.

Since Affirmed won the Triple Crown in 1978, there had been several near-misses, horses winning the Derby and the Preakness, but not the Belmont Stakes, the mile-and-a-half "True Test of Champions." Spectacular Bid had failed in 1979, Pleasant Colony in 1981, Alysheba in 1987, Sunday Silence in 1989, Silver Charm by 3/4 of a length in 1997, Real Quiet in a photo finish in 1998, Charismatic due to an in-race injury in 1999, War Emblem in 2002, Funny Cide in 2003, Smarty Jones by 1 length in 2004, Big Brown due to an in-race injury in 2008, I'll Have Another scratched from the Belmont due to an injury in 2012, and California Chrome due to an in-race injury in 2014. Racing fans were wondering if they would ever see another winner.

On June 6, American Pharoah was loaded into the paddock at Belmont Park in Elmont, Long Island, New York, just over the City Line from Queens, at odds of 3-4. There was no injury, no fade, and not even any drama: He won by 5 1/2 lengths over Frosted, in a time of 2 minutes, 26.65 seconds.

The idea for the Breeders' Cup was proposed at the 1982 awards luncheon for the Kentucky Derby Festival by pet food heir John R. Gaines, a leading Thoroughbred owner and breeder who wanted to clean up the sport's image.

The event was created as a year-end championship for North American thoroughbred racing, and also attracts top horses from other parts of the world, especially Europe. The Cup was initially faced with much skepticism in the racing community, but with the vocal support of legendary trainer John Nerud and others, the event was carried out for the 1st time in 1984, and subsequently experienced tremendous popularity domestically and abroad.

The feature race is the Breeders' Cup Classic, a mile and a quarter like the Kentucky Derby. Usually, it is won by a horse that has won at least 1 of the Triple Crown races, although the 1st winner, Wild Again, didn't even enter any of those races, but held off 1983 Three-Year-Old Male Champion Slew o' Gold and 1984 Preakness winner Gate Dancer at Hollywood Park outside Los Angeles.

American Pharoah was the 1st Triple Crown winner to whom the Classic was available. On Halloween, October 31, 2015, at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky -- practically home soil -- he won by 5 1/2 lengths, in 2 minutes, 0.07 seconds, by 6 1/2 lengths over Effinex. Thus, he became the 1st winner of an American thoroughbred racing "Grand Slam." Through the 2021 Classic, he remains the only one.

It was his last race. Unlike many 3-year-old champions, he did not have a money-making 4-year-old season, and was immediately retired to stud. As of October 31, 2022, American Pharoah stands at Ashford Stud farm in Kentucky. Most of his descendants who have gone on to race have done so outside the United States, winning races in Britain, Europe and Australia.

*

October 31, 2015 was a Saturday. This was also the day that the University of Miami's football team beat Duke University, then ranked Number 22 in the country, 30-27 at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, on a controversial final play. It became known as "The Debacle at Durham." I have a separate entry for that vent.

Among the other college football games played that day:

* Number 1 Ohio State had the week off. They blew the Big Ten and National Championships by losing to Michigan State.

* Number 2 Louisiana State also had the week off. LSU blew the Southeastern Conference and National Championships by losing their next 3 games, to Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi.

* Number 3 Clemson beat North Carolina State, 56-41 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina. Clemson went on to win the Atlantic Coast Conference title.

* Number 4 Alabama had the week off. They won the SEC West Division title, and moved on to the SEC Championship Game.

* Number 5 Texas Christian had played 2 nights before. TCU beat West Virginia, 40-10 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. Losses to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State cost them shots at the Big Twelve and National Championships. They did win the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio.

* Number 7 Michigan State had the week off. The won the Big Ten title, but lost the Cotton Bowl to Alabama.

* Number 8 Stanford beat Washington State, 30-28 at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington. Stanford won the Pacific-Twelve title.

* Number 9 Notre Dame beat Number 21 Temple, 24-20 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Notre Dame went on to beat Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.

* Number 10 Iowa beat Maryland, 31-15 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. Iowa finished 2nd in the Big Ten, but since Champions Michigan State qualified for the National Championship Playoff, Iowa got the league's Rose Bowl bid, losing "The Granddaddy of Them All" to Stanford.

* In the rivalry known as "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party," Number 11 Florida beat Georgia, 27-3 at EverBank Field (now TIAA Bank Field) in Jacksonville. Florida won the SEC East Division, but lost the SEC Championship Game to Alabama.

* Number 12 Oklahoma State beat Texas Tech in a wild one, 70-53 at Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Yes, that's a football game, not a basketball game. Losses to Oklahoma and Baylor cost TCU shots at the Big Twelve and National Championships. They went on to beat Mississippi in the Sugar Bowl. Texas Tech went to the Texas Bowl in Houston, but lost to LSU.

* Number 14 Oklahoma beat Kansas, 62-7 at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. Oklahoma won the Big Twelve Conference title, but lost to Clemson in the Orange Bowl. Clemson then lost the National Championship Playoff to Alabama.

* In a rivalry for the Little Brown Jug, Number 15 Michigan beat Minnesota, 29-26 at TCF Bank Stadium (now Huntington Bank Stadium) in Minneapolis.

* Among the service academies, Navy beat South Florida, 29-17 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland; Air Force beat Hawaii, 58-7 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu; and Army had the week off.

* In a rivalry for the Old Bourbon Barrel, Tennessee beat Kentucky, 52-21 at Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky.

* And Rutgers lost to Wisconsin, 48-10 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. Who's the money-grubber -- or the masochist -- who thought that RU joining the Big Ten was a good idea?

Game 4 of the World Series was played at Citi Field in Queens. Tim McGraw, country music superstar and son of New York Mets (and Philadelphia Phillies) legend Tug McGraw, both sang the National Anthem and threw out the ceremonial first ball. As far as I know, no other person has ever been given both honors at a major league game.

Michael Conforto's home run gave the Mets a 2-0 lead in the 3rd inning, and another Conforto homer in the 5th made it 3-1. He is the only Met ever to hit 2 home runs in a World Series game. As late as the top of the 8th, they led the Kansas City Royals 3-2.

But for the 4th straight game -- actually, the 5th, since they did it in Game 5 back in 2000 -- the Mets blew a lead in a World Series game. Tyler Clippard walked the 1st 2 Royals in the 8th. With Jeurys Familia brought in to pitch, Daniel Murphy, the Mets' biggest postseason hero thus far, made a key error that allowed the tying run to score. Mike Moustakas singled home the go-ahead run, and the Royals tacked on another. Yoenis Céspedes, the other big Met hero of the season, got doubled off 1st base following a soft line drive to end it, in a 5-3 Royals win.

The Mets had thrilled the baseball world the last 3 months. Now, they were clowning their way to an ignominious defeat.

There were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Washington Wizards, 117-110 at the Capital One Arena in Washington. Carmelo Anthony scored 37 points for the Knickerbockers, and that wasn't even close to making him tops in the league for the night.

* The Brooklyn Nets lost to the Memphis Grizzlies, 101-91 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 134-120 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Steph Curry scored 53 points for the Dubs.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Indiana Pacers, 97-76 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Sacramento Kings, 114-109 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. Blake Griffin scored 37 for the Clips.

* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 101-90 at the Moda Center in Portland.

And there were 10 games in the NHL: 

* The New Jersey Devils beat the New York Islanders, 3-2 in a shootout at the Prudential Center.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-1 at the Amalie Arena (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Florida Panthers, 2-1 at the BB&T Center (now the FLA Live Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida. Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the winning goal with 1:16 left in overtime.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-3 at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-0 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild, 3-2 at the Scottrade Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis. David Backes scored the winning goal with 34 seconds left in overtime.

* The Dallas Stars beat the San Jose Sharks, 5-3 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* In the Battle of Alberta, the Calgary Flames beat their arch-rivals, the Edmonton Oilers, 5-4 at Rexall Place (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known) in Edmonton.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Nashville Predators, 4-3 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena, which hosted the Clippers later that night). Jeff Carter scored the winning goal with 18 seconds left in overtime.

And in England's Premier League, North London team Arsenal went to Wales, and beat Swansea City, 3-0 at the Liberty Stadium (now Swansea.com Stadium).

October 31, 2015: The Debacle at Durham

Mark Walton is tackled by Jake Kite... or is he?

October 31, 2015: Duke University hosts the University of Miami in an Atlantic Coast Conference Game at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. After scoring a touchdown and a 2-point conversion, Duke led 27-24 with 6 seconds left on the clock. All the Blue Devils had to do was not allow a touchdown on the kickoff return, and they would beat the Hurricanes.

Duke squibbed the kickoff, thinking that the clock would run out during Miami's return. But the ball only got to the Miami 25-yard line, and the 'Canes tried to copy "The Play," the lateral-filled play that allowed the University of California to beat arch-rival Stanford in 1982.

After 3 laterals, the ball was held on the Miami 3-yard line. Mark Walton tried a 4th lateral. Photos showed that his knee hit the turf before he let the ball go. But no official whistled the play dead. Eventually, Miami made 8 laterals. The last got to Corn Elder, who got 2 key blocks, and had a clear path to the Duke end zone.

When he got to the Duke 16, his teammate Artie Burns threw a block that caused the line judge to throw his penalty flag. Elder got into the end zone, but the officials decided to check the instant replay. They declared that all 8 laterals were legal, no Miami ballcarrier had been legally tackled, and the illegal block made by Burns was actually a legal one. So Elder's touchdown stood, and the final score was Miami 30, Duke 27.

This became known as "The Debacle In Durham." The ACC later ruled that Walton was down, and that the illegal block was, in fact, illegal. They refused to overturn the game's result, but they suspended the entire officiating crew for 2 games.

Now, if it was Duke basketball, a lot of people wouldn't have minded seeing them get screwed. But Duke football has been far less successful, and has offended far fewer people.

*

October 31, 2015 was a Saturday. This was also the day that American Pharoah became the 1st horse to win the "Grand Slam" of American thoroughbred racing, adding the Breeders' Cup Classic to the "Triple Crown" of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. I have a separate entry for that vent.

Among the other college football games played that day:

* Number 1 Ohio State had the week off. They blew the Big Ten and National Championships by losing to Michigan State.

* Number 2 Louisiana State also had the week off. LSU blew the Southeastern Conference and National Championships by losing their next 3 games, to Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi.

* Number 3 Clemson beat North Carolina State, 56-41 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina. Clemson went on to win the Atlantic Coast Conference title.

* Number 4 Alabama had the week off. They won the SEC West Division title, and moved on to the SEC Championship Game.

* Number 5 Texas Christian had played 2 nights before. TCU beat West Virginia, 40-10 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. Losses to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State cost them shots at the Big Twelve and National Championships. They did win the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio.

* Number 7 Michigan State had the week off. The won the Big Ten title, but lost the Cotton Bowl to Alabama.

* Number 8 Stanford beat Washington State, 30-28 at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington. Stanford won the Pacific-Twelve title.

* Number 9 Notre Dame beat Number 21 Temple, 24-20 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Notre Dame went on to beat Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.

* Number 10 Iowa beat Maryland, 31-15 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. Iowa finished 2nd in the Big Ten, but since Champions Michigan State qualified for the National Championship Playoff, Iowa got the league's Rose Bowl bid, losing "The Granddaddy of Them All" to Stanford.

* In the rivalry known as "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party," Number 11 Florida beat Georgia, 27-3 at EverBank Field (now TIAA Bank Field) in Jacksonville. Florida won the SEC East Division, but lost the SEC Championship Game to Alabama.

* Number 12 Oklahoma State beat Texas Tech in a wild one, 70-53 at Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Yes, that's a football game, not a basketball game. Losses to Oklahoma and Baylor cost TCU shots at the Big Twelve and National Championships. They went on to beat Mississippi in the Sugar Bowl. Texas Tech went to the Texas Bowl in Houston, but lost to LSU.

* Number 14 Oklahoma beat Kansas, 62-7 at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. Oklahoma won the Big Twelve Conference title, but lost to Clemson in the Orange Bowl. Clemson then lost the National Championship Playoff to Alabama.

* In a rivalry for the Little Brown Jug, Number 15 Michigan beat Minnesota, 29-26 at TCF Bank Stadium (now Huntington Bank Stadium) in Minneapolis.

* Among the service academies, Navy beat South Florida, 29-17 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland; Air Force beat Hawaii, 58-7 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu; and Army had the week off.

* In a rivalry for the Old Bourbon Barrel, Tennessee beat Kentucky, 52-21 at Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky.

* And Rutgers lost to Wisconsin, 48-10 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. Who's the money-grubber -- or the masochist -- who thought that RU joining the Big Ten was a good idea?

Game 4 of the World Series was played at Citi Field in Queens. Tim McGraw, country music superstar and son of New York Mets (and Philadelphia Phillies) legend Tug McGraw, both sang the National Anthem and threw out the ceremonial first ball. As far as I know, no other person has ever been given both honors at a major league game.

Michael Conforto's home run gave the Mets a 2-0 lead in the 3rd inning, and another Conforto homer in the 5th made it 3-1. He is the only Met ever to hit 2 home runs in a World Series game. As late as the top of the 8th, they led the Kansas City Royals 3-2.

But for the 4th straight game -- actually, the 5th, since they did it in Game 5 back in 2000 -- the Mets blew a lead in a World Series game. Tyler Clippard walked the 1st 2 Royals in the 8th. With Jeurys Familia brought in to pitch, Daniel Murphy, the Mets' biggest postseason hero thus far, made a key error that allowed the tying run to score. Mike Moustakas singled home the go-ahead run, and the Royals tacked on another. Yoenis Céspedes, the other big Met hero of the season, got doubled off 1st base following a soft line drive to end it, in a 5-3 Royals win.

The Mets had thrilled the baseball world the last 3 months. Now, they were clowning their way to an ignominious defeat.

There were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Washington Wizards, 117-110 at the Capital One Arena in Washington. Carmelo Anthony scored 37 points for the Knickerbockers, and that wasn't even close to making him tops in the league for the night.

* The Brooklyn Nets lost to the Memphis Grizzlies, 101-91 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 134-120 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Steph Curry scored 53 points for the Dubs.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Indiana Pacers, 97-76 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Sacramento Kings, 114-109 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. Blake Griffin scored 37 for the Clips.

* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 101-90 at the Moda Center in Portland.

And there were 10 games in the NHL: 

* The New Jersey Devils beat the New York Islanders, 3-2 in a shootout at the Prudential Center.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-1 at the Amalie Arena (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Florida Panthers, 2-1 at the BB&T Center (now the FLA Live Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida. Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the winning goal with 1:16 left in overtime.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-3 at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-0 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild, 3-2 at the Scottrade Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis. David Backes scored the winning goal with 34 seconds left in overtime.

* The Dallas Stars beat the San Jose Sharks, 5-3 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* In the Battle of Alberta, the Calgary Flames beat their arch-rivals, the Edmonton Oilers, 5-4 at Rexall Place (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known) in Edmonton.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Nashville Predators, 4-3 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena, which hosted the Clippers later that night). Jeff Carter scored the winning goal with 18 seconds left in overtime.

And in England's Premier League, North London team Arsenal went to Wales, and beat Swansea City, 3-0 at the Liberty Stadium (now Swansea.com Stadium).

October 31, 2009: The Spectrum Closes

October 31, 2009: The "grunge rock" band Pearl Jam sell out The Spectrum, in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. It is the last event at the 42-year-old arena.

The Spectrum, a new sports arena, opened in South Philadelphia on September 30, 1967, with the Quaker City Jazz Festival. It was home to the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers until 1996; hosted the NBA All-Star Game in 1970 and 1976; the NHL All-Star Game in 1976 and 1992; the NCAA Final Four in 1976 and 1981; the Stanley Cup Finals in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1985 and 1987; the NBA Finals in 1977, 1980, 1982 and 1983; and concerts by Elvis Presley in 1971, 1974, 1976 and 1977.

Unlike most arenas, The Spectrum was not replaced due to it being technologically outdated, or in poor condition, or being in a bad neighborhood (it was an island in a sea of parking, therefore it was in no neighborhood). It was because Spectator, the company owned by the Snider family to operate the arena and the Flyers, was booking more events than it could handle.

So in 1992, JFK Stadium was torn down, and what was originally named Spectrum II was built on the site. The idea was that the new arena would host the headline events -- the 76ers, the Flyers, and the major concerts -- while the original Spectrum would host smaller events.

The 76ers' last game at The Spectrum was on April 19, 1996. They lost to the Orlando Magic, 112-92. The Flyers' last game there was in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, on May 12. They were eliminated from the Eastern Conference Semifinals by the Florida Panthers, 2-1. Mike Hough scored the winning, and last, goal at 8:05 of the 2nd overtime.

The Spectrum continued to hold public events until a series of Pearl Jam concerts from October 27 to 31, 2009. The building was torn down the following year. Xfinity Live! Philadelphia, a dining and entertainment complex, opened on the site in 2012.

*

October 31, 2009 was a Saturday. It was also Halloween. At the same time as the concert, Game 3 of the World Series was also held at the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. The New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-5 at Citizens Bank Park. Andy Pettitte outpitched Cole Hamels. Home runs were hit by Yankees Alex Rodriguez, Nick Swisher and Hideki Matsui; while Jayson Werth hit 2 for the Phillies, and Carlos Ruiz added one.

It figured that A-Rod's 1st World Series home run would be controversial. But it was only a slight controversy: At first, his drive appeared to be a double off the wall. Even he thought so, and he stopped at 2nd base. But, for the 1st time, instant replay was used in a World Series game, and it showed that the ball deflected off a TV camera above the wall. According to the ground rules, that made it a home run.

The Yankees took a 2-games-to-1 lead in the Series, retaking home-field advantage after the Phillies won Game 1. The Yankees went on to win the Series in 6 games.

These notable college football games were played:

* Rivalry: Number 1 Florida beat Georgia, 41-17 at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium (now EverBank Stadium).

* Number 3 Texas beat Number 13 Oklahoma State, 41-14 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

* Number 4 University of Southern California (USC) were upset by Number 10 Oregon, 47-20 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon.

* Number 5 University of Cincinnati beat Syracuse, 28-7 at the Carrier Dome (now the JMA Wireless Dome) in Syracuse, New York.

* Number 6 Boise State beat San Jose State, 45-7 at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho. As an undefeated team and Champions of the Western Athletic Conference, the Broncos got invited to the Fiesta Bowl.

* Number 7 Iowa beat Indiana, 42-24 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa.

* Number 8 Texas Christian University (TCU) beat the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV), 41-0 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. As an undefeated team and Champions of the Mountain West Conference, the Horned Frogs got invited to the Fiesta Bowl. They came in at Number 6, while Boise State were Number 8. Since neither the WAC nor the MWC, which grew out of the WAC, is a "Power Five" conference, this was a consolation prize: Whoever won was still going to be undefeated, but wouldn't get to be called National Champions. It was, essentially, college football's version of the NIT. Boise State won, 17-10. Despite remaining undefeated, they only rose to Number 4 in the polls.

* Rivalry: Number 9 Louisiana State University (LSU) beat Tulane, 42-0 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

* Number 21 South Carolina were upset by Tennessee, 31-13 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.

* Number 24 Mississippi lost to  Auburn, 33-20 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama.

* Number 25 Notre Dame beat Washington State, 40-14 at the Alamodome in San Antonio. I don't know why the game was played there, but it was part of "the Shamrock Series," where Notre Dame plays "home away from home games."

* Illinois beat Michigan, 38-13 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois.

* Among the service academies, Army had the week off; Navy lost to Temple, 27-24 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland; and Air Force beat Colorado State, 34-16 at Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins, Colorado.

* And Rutgers beat Connecticut (a.k.a. UConn), 28-24 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut.

There were 7 games played in the NBA. Appropriately, 1 was a win by the 76ers, beating the New York Knicks, 141-127 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Othella Harrington scored 42 points for the Knicks, while Andre Iguodala led the Sixers with 32. The other games:

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Washington Wizards, 123-104 at the Verizon Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Charlotte Hornets, 90-79 at the Quicken Loans Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Detroit Pistons, 96-85 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 111-107 at the Toyota Center in Houston. Brandon Roy scored 42 for the Blazers, while Trevor Ariza led the Rockets with 43.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Sacramento Kings, 113-94 at the AT&T Center (now the Frost Bank Arena) in San Antonio.

* And the Dallas Mavericks beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 93-84 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

There were 11 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat the Buffalo Sabres, 5-0 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1 at the St. Pete Times Forum (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* In the opener of Hockey Night In Canada's Saturday night doubleheader, there was an Original Six matchup: The Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-4 in a shootout at the Bell Centre.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Edmonton Oilers, 2-0 at the TD Garden Boston.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 6-1 at the Wachovia Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Thrashers beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-1 at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa.

* The Minnesota Wild beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 2-1 at the Mellon Arena (as the Civic Arena was then known) in Pittsburgh.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Dallas Stars, 4-2 at the Sommet Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.

* The Florida Panthers beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-0 at the Scottrade Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis.

* The Phoenix Coyotes beat the Anaheim Ducks, 3-2 in a shootout at the Jobing.com Arena (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Calgary Flames, 3-1 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* And the New York Rangers, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Los Angeles Kings, the Vancouver Canucks, the Washington Capitals, the Colorado Avalanche, the San Jose Sharks and the Columbus Blue Jackets were not scheduled.

And in English soccer, a North London Derby was held at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal beat Tottenham Hotspur, 3-1.

October 31, 2004: The NFL's Longest Winning Streak Ends

Ben Roethlisberger (left) and Tom Brady

October 31, 2004: The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the New England Patriots, 34-20 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh. This ends the longest winning streak in NFL history.

Coached by Bill Belichick, the Patriots surprised the football world in the 2001 season, losing starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe to injury early, and then replacing him with Tom Brady, and going on a run that ended with victory over the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. After missing the Playoffs in the 2002 season, they won it all again for 2003.

On September 28, they lost away to the Washington Redskins, and ran the table the rest of the way, starting on October 5, home to the Tennessee Titans. They won their last 12 of the season, beat the Titans again in the AFC Divisional Playoff, beat the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship Game, and beat the Carolina Panthers to win Super Bowl XXXVIII. That made 15 straight wins.

They won their 1st preseason exhibition game, then lost their next 3, but that didn't break the official streak. They jumped out to a 6-0 start in 2004, for a total of 21 straight wins. The previous longest winning streak belonged to the 1972 and '73 Miami Dolphins: After losing Super Bowl VI, they went 14-0 in the '72 regular season, won the Super Bowl to complete the NFL's only undefeated full season to this day, and won their '73 opener before losing their 2nd game, for a total of 18 straight. The Patriots' 19th straight was their October 10, 2004 home win over, perhaps appropriately, the Dolphins.

Two Sundays later, on October 24, a concurrent streak, the longest unbeaten run in the history of top-flight English soccer, came to an end, as Arsenal, who had gone 49 Premier League games without a loss, were defeated by Manchester United. The Patriots won that day, beating the New York Jets, 13-7 at home, for 21 straight.

But on the afternoon of Halloween, they went into Pittsburgh for a tough one. Patriots vs. Steelers is not one of the NFL's bigger rivalries, but the Pats had eliminated the Steelers from the Playoffs in 1996 (when the quarterbacks were still Bledsoe for New England and Kordell Stewart for Pittsburgh) and 2001, with the Steelers beating the Patriots in 1997. Now, with Ben Roethlisberger as their quarterback, the Black & Gold were ready to take the defending Champions down.

Adam Vinatieri kicked a field goal to give the Pats an early lead, but a season-ending injury to Ty Law was a green light for Roethlisberger, as he exploited the new weakness for 2 touchdown passes. Deshea Townsend intercepted Brady and returned it for a touchdown, giving the Steelers a 21-3 lead before the 1st quarter ran out.

The Steelers then pounded the Pats with the running game, with Duce Staley gaining 125 yards and Jerome Bettis 65 plus a 3rd-quarter touchdown. The Steelers won, 34-20, and looked ready to take over as the leading team in the AFC.

It didn't happen: The Steelers hosted the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, and got lit up, 41-27. The Patriots won Super Bowl XXXIX, beating the Philadelphia Eagles. The Steelers won 3 of the next 5 AFC Championships, but, each time, the Patriots got knocked out before the Steelers had to face them. The Patriots beat the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game again in the 2016 season.

Did the Patriots cheat in their streak? Did they cheat in Super Bowl XXXIX? There has never been a serious accusation of it. But think of it this way: We have more proven instances of Belichick and/or Brady cheating, and the other benefiting from that cheating, than we have proven instances of them not cheating. So which is more likely: That these were the only times they cheated, or that they cheated in many more games?

*

October 31, 2004 was a Sunday. The baseball season ended 4 days earlier, with the Boston Red Sox ending their 86-year World Series drought by completing a 4-game sweep over the St. Louis Cardinals. The NBA season started 2 days later. And the NHL team owners had locked the players out, eventually leading to the cancellation of the entire season.

These other NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants beat the Minnesota Vikings, 34-13 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Baltimore Ravens, 15-10 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Washington Redskins, 28-14 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Tennessee Titans beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 27-20 at The Coliseum (now Nissan Stadium) in Nashville.

* The Houston Oilers beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 20-6 at Reliant Stadium (now NRG Stadium) in Houston.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Detroit Lions, 31-21 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Arizona Cardinals, 38-14 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Chicago Bears beat the San Francisco 49ers, 23-13 at the new Soldier Field in Chicago.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Indianapolis Colts, 45-35 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Denver Broncos, 41-28 at Invesco Field at Mile High (now Empower Field at Mile High) in Denver.

* The San Diego Chargers beat their arch-rivals, the Oakland Raiders, 42-14 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Carolina Panthers, 23-17 at Qwest Field (now Lumen Field) in Seattle.

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the New York Jets beat the Miami Dolphins, 41-14 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* And the Cleveland Browns, the New Orleans Saints, the St. Louis Rams and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a bye week.

October 31, 2001: Derek Jeter Becomes Mr. November

October 31, 2001: Game 4 of the World Series. It's not just Halloween -- the 1st time a Major League Baseball game has been played on the day, due to the postponement of a week of games following the 9/11 attacks -- it's also a night of a Full Moon.

During batting practice at Yankee Stadium, Arizona Diamondbacks 1st baseman Mark Grace, who so long played for the Chicago Cubs without winning a Pennant and is enjoying his 1st World Series, could be seen on the official Series highlight film looking up, and saying, "Full Moon! You know what that means: Strange things happen!"

The Yankees trailed the Diamondbacks 3-1 in the bottom of the 9th, and were about to fall behind in the World Series by the same margin of games. This was due in large part to the fine pitching of Curt Schilling, who was asked about the "mystique" of Yankee Stadium. He said, "Mystique, Aura, those are dancers in a nightclub." Schilling had outpitched the Yankees' Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez. Grace had homered for the Snakes, Shane Spencer for the Yankees.

(Three years later, pitching for Boston, he would prove he was still not intimidated by Yankee Stadium, saying, "I can't think of anything better than making 55,000 Yankee fans shut up.") 

Byung-Hyun Kim, a "submarine" style pitcher from Korea, tried to close the Yankees out. But Paul O'Neill singled, and, after Bernie Williams struck out, Tino Martinez came to the plate as the Yankees' final hope. Tino electrified the crowd by slamming a drive toward the right-center-field Bleachers. The home run tied the game, and sent it into extra innings.

On the video, a fan in the front row of the Bleachers tried to catch the ball, but it bounced off his hand. Now, imagine you are that fan: Are you excited that the Yankees have come back in this World Series game, or are you mad that you were unable to catch this historic homer (and probably hurt your hand in the process)?

As the clock struck midnight, for the 1st time ever, a Major League Baseball game was played in the month of November. It was the bottom of the 10th, and Derek Jeter stepped to the plate against Kim. A fan held up a sign saying, "Mr. November."

Michael Kay, broadcasting this game for the Yankees on radio station WABC, later asked, "How did he know to hold up that sign for Jeter?" The answer is easy: He didn't hold it up specifically for Jeter. Jeter was just the batter when the clock struck 12, making him the first batter for whom it could be held up.

At 12:03 came a typical Jeter hit, an inside-out swing to right-center, and it just... barely... got over the fence for a game-winning home run. Kay yells out, "See ya! See ya! See ya!" Yankees 4, Diamondbacks 3. The Series was tied. The old ballyard was shaking. The "Yankee Mystique" had struck again. It was hits like this that got Jeter the nickname "Captain Clutch."

The next night, the 1st game to officially be played in the month of November, a fan made up a sign that said, "BASEBALL HISTORY MADE HERE" on what looked like an ancient scroll. Another fan made up a sign that said, "MYSTIQUE AND AURA APPEARING NIGHTLY." (Two years later, in what became known as the Aaron Boone Game, that same fan made up one that said, "MYSTIQUE DON’T FAIL ME NOW." It didn't.)

In 2022, Major League Baseball ranked its Top 20 Games of all time -- and by "all time," they meant games for which they had a complete record, so they could broadcast it in full. In other words, from about 1975 onward. This game ranked 12th.

*

October 31, 2001 was a Wednesday. French skier Régine Cavagnoud died, 2 days after a training accident in Pitztal, Austria. Although she had competed in 3 Winter Olympics, she had never won a medal. However, just 7 months before her death, she won the World Championship in the women's super giant slalom, or Super-G, in St. Anton, Austria. She was 31.

Football was in midweek. There were 5 games played in the NBA:

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Boston Celtics, 95-92 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston. Paul Pierce scored 36 in defeat for the Celtics.

* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 100-94 at the Charlotte Coliseum.

* The Miami Heat beat the Toronto Raptors, 97-92 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Chicago Bulls, 98-73 at the United Center in Chicago.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Golden State Warriors, 92-87 at the Rose Garden (now the Moda Center) in Portland.

And there were 6 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Florida Panthers, 3-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat their cross-State rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-0 at the First Union Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Minnesota Wild, 6-4 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Dallas Stars, 4-3 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Brett Hull scored the winning goal, 48 seconds into overtime.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Colorado Avalanche, 1-0 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* And the San Jose Sharks beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 4-2 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center) in Anaheim.

October 31, 1975: Queen Release "Bohemian Rhapsody"

October 31, 1975: The British rock band Queen release their single "Bohemian Rhapsody," from their album A Night at the Opera. It was entirely written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, produced by Roy Thomas Baker, and recorded at Rockfield Studios 1 at Rockfield, Monmouth, Wales, about 37 miles northeast of the Welsh capital of Cardiff, and 154 miles west of London.

Traditionally, Bohemia is the westernmost part of Czechia, a.k.a. the Czech Republic, and, before that, the westernmost part of Czechoslovakia. Before that, it belonged to the Austrian Empire; before that, the Holy Roman Empire; before that, it was an independent Kingdom of Bohemia.

But the title of the song does not refer to the place. Rather, it refers to Bohemianism, defined as "the practice of an unconventional lifestyle," often involving musical, artistic, literary or spiritual pursuits.

And yet, the song contains no lyrics reflecting this. It is actually several songs in one:

* It opens with a 49-second vocal part with minimal instrumentation.

* Its 2nd movement, 2 minutes and 16 seconds, has 2 verses, narrated by a man who has committed a murder, and is now on the run, writing a message to his mother.

* Its 3rd movement, 1 minute and 2 seconds, has little relationship to the other 2, and contains features of opera, reflecting the title of the album more than that of the song.

* Its 4th movement, 47 seconds, is pure hard rock, and its lyrics seem to have only the slightest relationship to what has come before.

* Its 5th and final movement, a little over 1 minute (how many additional seconds depends on how long you consider the fadeout to be) is a callback to its 1st, about how nothing seems to matter.

A promotional film was made on November 10 -- the day the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank -- and helped to usher in the era of music videos. Its diamond formation of the band's faces, a copy of the photo that Mick Rock took for the cover of their 1974 album Queen II, become iconic: Mercury at the bottom, guitarist Brian May at the top, drummer Roger Taylor on the left, and bass guitarist John Deacon on the right.

For younger fans (including myself) who only became fans of Queen with their 1980 album The Game, or even later after their appearance at Live Aid in 1985, it was hard to imagine Mercury clean-shaven with long hair, rather than the more familiar later image of short hair and the thick bushy mustache -- apparently, known in gay circles as a "cockduster."

Supposedly, the image of the band was inspired by a photo of German actress Marlene Dietrich from the 1932 film Shanghai Express, but it is also reminiscent of the shadowy-faced cover of the 1963 album With The Beatles (known as Meet The Beatles on its early 1964 release in America).

The song hit Number 1 on the British music charts, and stayed there for 9 weeks. In America, its 6-minute length was considered an issue for radio stations -- more, apparently, than was asking its audience to show sympathy for the song's narrator, an admitted murderer -- and it only reached Number 9.

After Mercury died in 1991, from the effects of AIDS at the age of 45, combined with the song's inclusion in the film Wayne's World, released 3 months later (but filmed before it was publicly known that Mercury was dying), the song went back to Number 1 on the British charts, but still only got to Number 2 in America. The song's title became the title of a 2018 film biography of Mercury, starring Rami Malek.

As of October 31, 2022, the rest of the band is still alive: May is 74, Taylor is 72, and Deacon is 70. Baker is 75.

UPDATE: It took me until 2024 to think of this, but the 1970s were Schrödinger's Decade. There was too much overwrought music, and, at the same time, not enough of it.

In a 2012 episode of the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History, "Nice" Peter Shukoff played Freddie Mercury, against "Epic" Lloyd Ahlquist as Frank Sinatra.

*

October 31, 1975 was a Friday. It was also Halloween. The baseball season had just ended, with the Cincinnati Reds winning a fondly-remembered World Series over the Boston Red Sox. College football games were played the next day, and NFL games the day after that. There were 5 games played in the NBA:

* The Boston Celtics beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 112-94 at the Boston Garden.

* The Buffalo Braves beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 92-87 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Houston Rockets, 131-127 at Cobo Hall in Detroit. Calvin Murphy scored 40 points for the Rockets, and Rudy Tomjanovich, who would later coach them to 2 NBA titles, added 21 points and 16 rebounds. But the Pistons got 24 each from Bob Lanier and Curtis Rowe, and 20 from George Trapp.

* The New Orleans Jazz beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 100-85 at the Superdome.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 120-104 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

There were 3 games played in the American Basketball Association, just entering its 9th and, as it turned out, final season: 

* The New York Nets lost to the Spirits of St. Louis, 120-116 in overtime at the Nassau Coliseum. They lost despite 42 points and 14 rebounds from Julius "Dr. J" Erving.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Denver Nuggets, 111-99 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* And the Utah Stars beat the Virginia Squires, 123-116 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City.

Only 1 game was played in the NHL: The Atlanta Flames beat the California Golden Seals, 2-0 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

Two games were played in the World Hockey Association. The Cleveland Crusaders beat the Quebec Nordiques, 6-2 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio. And the New England Whalers and the Edmonton Oilers played to a tie, 2-2 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

October 31, 1974: "The Man Who Killed Halloween"

October 31, 1974: It's Halloween in America. All over the country, kids are dressing up as their favorite monsters, TV characters, superheroes, and sports stars, trick-or-treating in the hopes of getting all that great candy they saw in TV commercials.

In East Brunswick, on the New York side of New Jersey, your humble author, then only 4 years old, dressed like a cowboy (it was my mother's idea, not mine), and was trick-or-treating for UNICEF, with the little orange box with the coin slot on top (also my mother's idea).

And, in Deer Park, Texas, a suburb of Houston, then home to a toddler named Andy Pettitte, who went on to become a great pitcher, Timothy O'Bryan, 8 years old, dies. He was murdered, by his father, Ronald O'Bryan, who had poisoned the boy's candy, specifically Pixy Stix.

He did it in order to claim the insurance money. He also distributed poisoned candy to his daughter and 3 other children, in an attempt to cover up his crime, but none of them ate it.

He was convicted on June 3, 1975. It would take until March 31, 1984 for him to be executed.

O'Bryan, known as "The Candy Man" and "The Man Who Killed Halloween," is the source of all those awful myths about tainted Halloween candy: Poisoned Hershey bars, razor blades hidden in apples, things like that.

His death was by lethal injection -- a far less painful death than his son had. For putting fear into the heads of trick-or-treaters and their parents ever since, I wish he'd been left in the prison yard for his fellow inmates to beat him to death. (From what I've heard, they would have been happy to try: No one, not even a hardened criminal, likes a man who killed a child, especially his own.)

*

October 31, 1974 was a Thursday. This was also the day NBC broadcast the 1st episode of The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast. I have a separate entry for that event.

Baseball season ended 2 weeks earlier, with the Oakland Athletics beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. Football was in midweek. There were 3 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Atlanta Hawks, 93-90 at Madison Square Garden. Earl "The Pearl" Monroe scored 35 points.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Detroit Pistons, 118-101 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio. Austin Carr scored 33 for the Cavs. Bob Lanier scored 41 in defeat.

* And the Houston Rockets beat the Washington Bullets, 95-92 at the Hofheinz Pavilion (now the Fertitta Center) in Houston.

There were no games in the American Basketball Association. There were 3 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-1 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Washington Capitals, 3-0 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* And the St. Louis Blues and the Los Angeles Kings played to a tie, 1-1 at The Forum outside Los Angeles.

And there were 3 games in the World Hockey Association:

* The New England Whalers beat the Indianapolis Racers, 6-1 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Cleveland Crusaders beat the Michigan Stags, 4-2 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit. The Stags didn't finish the season as the Michigan Stags. They became the Baltimore Blades. They didn't finish the season under that name, either. They didn't finish the season at all.

* And the San Diego Mariners beat the Chicago Cougars, 4-3 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena).

October 31, 1963: The Indianapolis Holiday On Ice Explosion

October 31, 1963: A propane leak at a concession stand at the Indiana State Fair Coliseum in Indianapolis causes an explosion that kills 74 people during a Holiday On Ice show.

Opened in 1939, the 6,800-seat building was not seriously damaged. It still stands, known as the Indiana Farmers Coliseum. It was the 1st home of the Indiana Pacers, from 1967 to 1974, and they won the American Basketball Association title there in 1970, 1972, and 1973.

A recent photo of the Coliseum

It has also been home to a series of minor-league hockey teams. The Indianapolis Capitals won the Calder Cup, the championship of the American Hockey League, in 1942 and 1950. The Indianapolis Ice won the Turner Cup, the championship of the International Hockey League, in 1990; and the Ray Miron Cup, the championship of the Central Hockey League, in 2000. The Indiana Ice won the Clark Cup, the championship of the United States Hockey League, in 2009 and 2014. The current team is called the Indy Fuel.

UPDATE: The name was the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum from its opening in 1939 to 1991, the then the Pepsi Coliseum until 2012, then the Fairgrounds Coliseum until 2014, then the Indiana Farmers Coliseum until 2024, before adopting its current name, the Corteva Coliseum. Corteva, Inc. (also known as Corteva Agriscience), headquartered in Indianapolis, is devoted to products for seed and crop protection. The company's name combines "cor" (Latin for "heart") with "teva" (the Hebrew word for nature).

*

October 31, 1963 was a Thursday. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Fred McGriff and All-Star Matt Nokes were born on this day. So were Brazilian soccer star Dunga, actors Rob Schenider and Dermot Mulroney, and Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr.

Baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. And there were no NBA games scheduled for this Halloween. There was 1 NHL game: The Detroit Red Wings beat the New York Rangers, 4-1 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit. 

October 31, 1950: The NBA's 1st Black Player

Earl Lloyd

October 31, 1950: The Rochester Royals defeat the Washington Capitols, 78-70, at the Edgerton Park Arena in Rochester. (It was demolished in the late 1950s.) Arnie Risen scores 20 for the home team, as they begin a season that will bring their 1st NBA Championship.

They had previously won the title in the National Basketball League in 1945. They will become the Cincinnati Royals in 1957, the Kansas City Kings in 1972, and the Sacramento Kings in 1985. Their long-term future in Sacramento is now settled, as they've opened a new arena.

Earl Lloyd, a forward wearing Number 11, scores 2 baskets and 2 free throws for the Capitols, for a total of 6 points. It doesn't sound like much, but his mere presence in the game makes him the NBA's 1st black player.

Chuck Cooper had been the 1st black player drafted, by the Boston Celtics. But, the way the schedule worked out, Earl beat him to the court by 1 day. Chuck should not be confused with another early black star, Charles "Tarzan" Cooper, who played for the New York Renaissance (a.k.a. the Rens) in the 1930s. 

Chuck Cooper

Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton, formerly of the Rens and the Harlem Globetrotters, had been the 1st black player actually signed to a contract, by the New York Knicks, but Earl beat him to the court by 4 days. So, in a way, the NBA had 3 "Jackie Robinsons."

Nat Clifton

Earl Lloyd was born on April 3, 1928 in Alexandria, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. His hometown team, having fired coach Red Auerbach in 1949, was 10-25 on January 9, 1951, and folded, leaving the nation's capital without an NBA team for the next 22 years. Lloyd was then drafted, and served in the Korean War.

Discharged in 1952, "the Big Cat" (also the nickname of Baseball Hall-of-Famer Johnny Mize, then wrapping up his career with the Yankees) played for the Syracuse Nationals until 1958, and the Detroit Pistons from then until his retirement in 1960. He averaged 8.4 points per game in his 9 NBA seasons. The Pistons then hired him as a scout.

In 1968, they named him the 1st black assistant coach in the NBA. In 1972, they named him the 2nd black head coach, after Bill Russell of the Celtics, and the 1st non-playing black head coach. But the Pistons were awful then, and his career coaching record was just 22-55.

He worked for the Detroit school system, helping students find jobs, then did the same thing for a company run by Pistons Hall-of-Famer Dave Bing. He retired to Tennessee. In 2003, the Basketball Hall of Fame elected him as a "contributor," for his historical prominence.

In 2007, T.C. Williams High School, the integrated Alexandria school into which his former all-black school, Parker-Gray, had been consolidated (a tale told, with considerable dramatic license taken, in the football-themed film Remember the Titans), named their new gym's court after him. He was also elected to the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, and died on February 26, 2015, a few weeks short of his 87th birthday.

*

October 31, 1950 was a Tuesday. This was the only game played in the NBA on that Halloween Night. Baseball season had ended 24 days earlier, with the New York Yankees sweeping the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. Football was in midweek. And no NHL games were scheduled. So there were no other scores on this historic day.

And comedian and actor John Candy was born on this day.

October 31, 1926: The Death of Harry Houdini

October 31, 1926: Harry Houdini could escape from anything. Except death, the one thing from which no person escapes.

Erik Weisz was born on March 24, 1874 in Budapest, Hungary, then part of the Austrian Empire. When he was 4 years old, his family took him to America, to Appleton, Wisconsin. To fit in with the largely German population, his name was re-spelled Erich Weiss, although pronounced the same way.

The family moved to New York, where little Erich became a trapeze artist and a competitive cross-country runner. In 1890, he read The Memoirs of Robert-Houdin, by the Frenchman regarded as the master of modern magic, Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin.

Incorrectly thinking that adding a letter I to the end of a French name meant "like," he wanted people to think he was "like Robert-Houdin." He also admired an American magician named Harry Kellar, and so he took the stage name "Harry Houdini."

By 1908, his own reputation solid, Harry had lost his respect for his forebear, believing him to have taken credit for others' innovations. Much like later magician James "The Amazing" Randi, he took to debunking famous people he considered frauds, especially in magic, and published The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin.

Although he mastered many magic tricks, he became best known as an escape artist. All over the world, over the 1st 2 decades of the 20th Century, he challenged police forces to keep him locked up. Soon, he extended his repertoire to include chains, ropes slung from skyscrapers, straitjackets, being locked in trunks, and having to escape from and hold his breath inside a sealed milk can with water in it.

In 1894, he married Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner, a Brooklyn-born daughter of German immigrants. She became known as Bess Houdini, and assisted him in his act. They never had children, and Bess' niece, Marie Blood, believed that Bess had a medical condition that prevented it.

On October 22, 1926, before a show at the Princess Theatre in Montreal, Houdini was in his dressing room, with some students at nearby McGill University. One, Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead, asked Houdini if it was true that punches in the stomach did not hurt him. He said they didn't. However, this was only true if he was properly braced for them. He had recently broken an ankle, and was sitting down, and getting up would have been painful. Whitehead began punching Houdini, and did so several times before Houdini told him to stop.

The show went on as scheduled, but Houdini was in pain throughout. For the next 2 days, the pain was bad enough that he couldn't sleep. Finally, in Detroit for a show at the Garrick Theater, he saw a doctor, who diagnosed him with appendicitis and a fever, and told him to have immediate surgery. (With a fever, this would have been a bad idea.) He went onstage that night, anyway, and his fever reached 104, and he passed out. He was taken to Grace Hospital, and died there from peritonitis on October 31, at the age of 52.

Did he already have appendicitis before the punches? It's been suggested that he didn't take the pain as seriously as he should have, since he thought it was from the punches. But after taking statements from the other McGill students, his insurance company concluded that the death was due to the dressing-room incident, and paid Bess a double indemnity.

And so, the Master of Magic was dead -- perhaps appropriately, on Halloween. Bess operated a tea house until her own death, in 1943. Whitehead was not charged with any crime in connection with Houdini's death, and lived in obscurity and poverty until 1954.

To this day, when asked to perform a seemingly impossible task, some people ask, "What do you think I am, a magician?" Some take it a step further, and ask, "What am I, Houdini?" And any seemingly miraculous escape is called "pulling a Houdini" or "a Houdini act."

In a 2015 episode of the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History, "Epic" Lloyd Ahlquist played Houdini, while his wife Josie Ahlquist played Bess Houdini. His opponent, as played by "Nice" Peter Shukoff, was more recent magician David Copperfield.

*

October 31, 1926 was a Sunday. British entertainer Jimmy Savile was born. Meaning this day stunk in two ways: We lost the greatest magician of all time, and gained a cruel sex fiend.

Baseball season had ended 3 weeks earlier, with the St. Louis Cardinals beating the New York Yankees in the World Series. Professional basketball was still very minor-league. And the NHL season was 16 days away. But there were 7 games in the NFL that day:

* The Frankford Yellow Jackets beat the Providence Steam Roller, 6-3 at the Providence Cycledrome in Providence, Rhode Island.

* The Kansas City Cowboys beat the Hartford Blues, 7-2 at the East Hartford Velodrome in East Hartford, Connecticut.

* The Pottsville Maroons beat the Buffalo Rangers, 14-0 at Minersville Park in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.

* The Detroit Panthers beat the Canton Bulldogs, 6-0 at Navin Field in Detroit. (That ballpark was renamed Briggs Stadium in 1938, and Tiger Stadium in 1961.)

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Cardinals, 3-0 at Normal Park in Chicago.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Akron Indians, 17-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Duluth Eskimos beat the Milwaukee Badgers, 7-6 at Athletic Park in Milwaukee. (That ballpark was renamed Borchert Field the next year.)

October 30, 1938: Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds"

October 30, 1938: The CBS radio show The Mercury Theater of the Air airs an adaptation of H.G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds. (In New York, it went over the network's flagship station, WCBS, 880 on the AM dial.)

Wells' story first appeared in London-based Pearson's Magazine in 1897. That same year, in America, Cosmopolitan serialized it. (It was a literary magazine until 1965, when Helen Gurley Brown was named editor, and turned it into a women's magazine.) It appeared in hardcover in 1898.

To make a long story short, with a spoiler: Creatures from the planet Mars invade Earth by attacking the greatest city of the age, late-Victorian London, and terrorize humanity, but soon die due to having no immunity to Earth germs.

It's been filmed in 1953 by George Pal, starring Gene Barry and moving the location to Southern California -- in other words, Hollywood itself -- and in 2005 by Steven Spielberg, starring Tom Cruise and set in New York. In each case, the film was set in what was then the present day.

The 1938 radio version was also set in its present. Howard E. Koch adapted the story for the broadcast, and lead actor Orson Welles (not related to H.G. Wells, note the different spelling), just 23 years old, tells of creatures from Mars landing in Grover's Mill, in the Township of West Windsor, Mercer County, New Jersey. The site is about a mile east of where the Princeton Junction train station now stands, about halfway between Midtown Manhattan and Center City Philadelphia, and 17 miles from East Brunswick, where I grew up.

The story is told as if it were a live news broadcast. While it ends with the Martians dying -- after having devastated New York -- it also ends with Welles, as the surviving Professor Pierson, interviewing a man in Newark, who holds fascist ideals, and wanting to use the Martian weaponry to take over what's left of Earth. It's worth noting that it had been one month since Britain and France caved in to Nazi Germany's demand for Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. I have listened to the broadcast on YouTube. It clocks in at a little under an hour.

Legend has it that people heard that the alien invaders were killing people and advancing toward New York, panicked, grabbed their shotguns and pitchforks, and evacuated. However, Welles said at the end of every commercial break that it was just a show, not actually happening, and repeated this at the end.

Furthermore, it would have been very easy for people to turn to another radio station -- say, their local NBC affiliate -- and hear regularly-scheduled programming, and not any "special report" of a Martian invasion and attack, and know that everything was as it was before. Welles publicly apologized the next day -- Halloween. But it made him a legend.

In 1941, Welles co-wrote, produced, directed, and starred in Citizen Kane, one of the greatest movies ever made. But because Charles Foster Kane was, despite all denials, an obvious sendup of newspaper baron William Randolph Hearst, Hearst told his media empire, now including film newsreels and radio stations, to blast the film.

Welles never fully recovered, despite making some more good films (The Magnificent Ambersons, The Third Man, Touch of Evil), reduced to a punchline due to his fall from grace, his "slumming" with things like commercials for Paul Masson wine, his wasted genius, and his, uh, geniused waist. He died in 1985, having been mostly irrelevant from ages 26 to 70.

While many sports teams, professional and collegiate alike, have given themselves nicknames of various kinds of warriors, none has ever named itself "The Martians" or "The Aliens." Although the Las Vegas 51s, named for the nearby U.S. Air Force base nicknamed "Area 51," use "the Roswell Alien" as their logo.

*

October 30, 1938 was a Sunday. Baseball season was over. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. And the NHL season wouldn't start for another 4 days. But there were 3 NFL games played that day:

* The football version of the Brooklyn Dodgers played the Washington Redskins to a 6-6 tie at Ebbets Field.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Cleveland Rams, 28-7 at League Park in Cleveland. The Rams moved to Los Angeles in 1946.

* And the Detroit Lions beat the Chicago Bears, 13-7 at Wrigley Field.

Despite it being a Sunday, there was one notable college football game played: Southern Methodist University (SMU) beat the University of Texas, 7-6 at Ownby Stadium in Dallas.